Mazer Blazer (set 2) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 41 years ago:

Mazer Blazer © 1983 Stern Electronics.

The object of the game is to prevent the attacking aliens from working through the maze and entering your ship. Each time an alien enters your ship, you lose a life.

There are 14 different types of aliens in Mazer Blazer. Each level will have 1 or 2 different types of aliens that present the player with constantly changing levels of difficulty. The screen is divided into 4 colors. The colors determine the point value of the object (see Scoring section for more details).

Shoot the aliens using the rapid fire Mazer Blaster. The farther from the ship you shoot the aliens, the higher the poin value awarded.

The walls of the maze are in 2 different colors; grey and orange. Orange walls are indestructible, while the grey walls can be shot away either by the nasties on the screen or your Mazer Blaster. Shooting the grey walls leaves gaps in the maze ans makes it easier for the aliens to reach their ship, and lowers your wall bonus.

After each level is a Timed Bonus Rack. There are 8 aliens per bonus rack.. Shoot the aliens as fast as possible for a maximum bonus. The aliens seen in the bonus rack will be the alien encountered in the next maze level.

In every maze is the freeze target (located at the lower center of the screen). The freeze target, when hit, momentarily stops the movement of the aliens on the screen.

TECHNICAL
Main CPU: (3x) Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)

Screen orientation: Horizontal
Video resolution: 256 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh: 60.00 Hz
Palette colors: 256

Players: 2
Control: lightgun
Buttons: 1

TRIVIA
Licensed to Atari for US distribution.

Default highscore table (MAZER BLAZER MASTERS):
TODAYS
WHP 10,000
JMH 9,000
LBR 8,000
APH 7,000
VAV 6,000
MAS 5,000
JON 4,000
WHO 3,000
HP? 2,000
JIM 1,000

SCORING
The screen is divided into 4 colors. The colors determine the point value of the object:
Blue = 400 points.
Green = 300 points.
Red = 200 points.
Black = 100 points.

The Wall Bonus (indicated at the top of the screen) starts out at 2000 points for the first level and increases by 1000 points per level to a maximum of 13000 points. Each time a section of the maze is destroyed, your wall bonus decreases by 200 points.

Timed Bonus Rack Alien: 500 points.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Description of the Aliens (in their order of appearance):
Tongue - Seeks the ship.
Disc - Seeks the ship.
Robot - Seeks the ship.
Hopper - Hops over walls.
Eyeball - Randomly blinks, making themselves almost invisible.
Jack - Seeks the ship.
Ram - Seeks the ship.
Snake - Seeks the ship.
Looper - Small target which is constantly spinning.
Drill - Drills into ground and comes up in a different part of the maze.
Shield - Opens and closes. When the shield is closed, it can"t be hit.
Bridger - Builds bridges that it and other aliens go under. When under bridges, aliens can't be shot.

Special nuisance aliens:
Jaws - Appear randomly in different levels. The jaws eat walls and decreases your wall bonus.
Gunners - Appear randomly in different levels. The gunners shoot walls and decreases your wall bonus.

STAFF
Designed by: Brian Pocklacki, Joseph Joos

CONTRIBUTE
Edit this entry: https://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=1589&o=2